cancer facts.....!

I have listed below some interesting and disturbing facts about pediatric cancer.  Many of these facts are not known except in the small circles of families and friends dealing with children who have cancer.  It is our hope that these facts reach you, that you internalize them, and that you take forth this information with you and help us to educate others and make them aware that each day, dozens of children and their families will learn that they have started a lifelong fight against pediatric cancer.

Did You Know.....

• Each school day, 46 children are diagnosed with cancer

• Most drugs for childhood cancer treatments are over 20 years old; only one new drug (Clofarabine) has been FDA approved in the last decade

• Approximately 1,400 children with cancer die each year. That’s four children a day…. four a day!

• Childhood cancer is the #1 killer of children by disease, more than asthma, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, congenital anomalies, and pediatric AIDS combined

• 80% of children have cancer that has spread to more than one location at the time of diagnosis

• Only 3% of National Cancer Institute's $4.8 billion cancer research budget went to cover all 12 types of childhood cancer

• As a result of their cancer treatments, 59% of children end up with a diagnosable mental health issue

• One out of every 330 children under the age of 20 will develop cancer

• Over half of pediatric cancer families will file for personal bankruptcy because of the costs of fighting the diseases

• 20 times more children are diagnosed with pediatric cancer than with pediatric AIDS. But the U.S. spends 30 times more on pediatric AIDS research than on childhood cancer

• As a result of their treatment, 15% of children with cancer are diagnosed with anxiety, 10% are diagnosed with depression, and 10-20% are diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

• Each year, over 14,000 children are diagnosed with cancer in just the U.S.

• Childhood cancers are more aggressive (they spread more quickly) and behave differently (biologically they are different) than cancers in adults

• Childhood cancer survival rates have not improved over the last two decades. In other words, we're not getting any better at saving children's lives!

• A five decade long study by the Institute of Medicine (IoM), proved a 1-to-1 correlation between the number of pediatric cancer trials and increases in survival rates for these diseases. And yet the funding for pediatric cancer clinical trials has gone down every year since 2003, and is currently $26.4 million!

And Did You Also Know.....

• The funding for pediatric cancer clinical trials has gone down every year since 2003, and is currently $26.4 million. By comparison, NCI funding for AIDS research was $254 million in 2006; funding for breast cancer topped $584 million the same year

• Pharmaceutical companies fund over 50% of adult cancer research trials, but virtually nothing for children's cancer!

• When a child is diagnosed with cancer, everyone in the family is affected

• Greater than one in five children die from their cancer, a statistic that has not improved for over the last 20 years. Rates have plateaued!

• Childhood cancer is not a single disease, but rather many different types that fall into 12 major categories: Leukemias (3), Brain/central nervous system (1), Lymphomas (2), Sarcomas (2), Liver Cancer (1), Kidney Cancer (1), Retinoblastoma and Germ Cell

• Childhood cancer occurs regularly, randomly and spares no ethnic group, socio-economic class, or geographic region

• The cause of most childhood cancers are unknown and at present, cannot be prevented, whereas most adult cancers result from lifestyle factors such as smoking, diet, occupation, and other exposure to cancer-causing agents.

• In almost all cases, childhood cancers arise from non-inherited mutations (or changes) in the genes of growing cells. As these errors occur randomly and unpredictably, there is currently no effective way to predict or prevent them

• Cancer in childhood occurs regularly, randomly, and spares no ethnic group, socioeconomic class, or geographic region

• Several childhood cancers continue to have a very poor prognosis, including: brain stem tumors, metastatic sarcomas (osteosarcoma), relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and relapsed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

• The American Cancer Society’s Annual Report shows $1 Billion in total public support and it’s Extramural/Intramural Funding in Priority Areas shows only $4 Million is directed to childhood cancers. Less than half a penny of each of these dollars is directed to the #1 killing disease for kids under the age of 20!